Recap of Chapter 20:
Ka'roth claimed the Beyond, consuming absence itself and reshaping it into infinite spiraling realms. He forced even concept itself—fear, hunger, strength—to bow to him. His jagged wings cut across layered infinities, his roar birthing entire cycles of realities. Now seated upon the Throne at the heart of boundless existence, Ka'roth had become all—time, space, law, and being.
And yet, his gaze turned outward.
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The Stillness Beyond All
Ka'roth's claws rested upon the arms of his Throne. His runes burned brighter than any star, endless streams of abyssal-white energy cascading around him. His jagged wings stretched endlessly, touching every layer of his infinite spiral.
But even as infinite beasts roared across his boundless dominion, Ka'roth felt it: a presence not within his creation, not bound by his rewritten Lattice. It did not tremble, it did not bow, it did not exist within his law.
It lay beyond even eternity itself.
The Abyss—now fully merged within him—spoke faintly, almost reverently:
"Sovereign… you stand upon the peak. Beyond this lies nothing named. Even I cannot see it."
Ka'roth's glowing white eyes narrowed.
"Then I name it."
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The Final Tear
Ka'roth rose from his Throne, towering vast enough to blot out entire infinities stacked beneath him. His claws burned with raw abyssal-silver power, arcs of energy cutting jagged scars across layered reality.
With one motion, Ka'roth plunged his claws into the ultimate edge of existence—where no law remained, where not even absence had weight.
He roared.
The sound shattered not just dimensions but the boundary itself.
Reality's perimeter cracked, glowing in abyssal-white fractures. With another roar, Ka'roth ripped it open, exposing an endless chasm of pure void—The Void Beyond Eternity.
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The Step Beyond
Ka'roth stepped forward.
Instantly, everything behind him froze: his Throne, his infinite spiral of realms, his horde mid-roar—all paused, bound in place by his command. They would remain until he returned.
He entered the void.
Here, there was no light, no dark, no concept, no chaos—not even absence. This was not Before, nor Beyond, nor the Lattice. This was the rootless nothing: a blank expanse outside the frame of all existence.
Ka'roth's jagged wings beat once, propelling him deeper.
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The Presence Without Name
At first, there was nothing.
Then—he felt it.
A vibration unlike any before, so alien it bypassed all senses. It did not roar, it did not whisper—it simply was.
Ka'roth's glowing gaze fixed forward. His claws clenched, his abyssal mist coiling tighter.
"Show yourself."
And it did.
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The Unbound
From the endless void emerged The Unbound—a shape without shape, vast beyond comprehension. Its edges flickered between countless forms: stars, beasts, shadows, flames, and things unrecognizable. It had no eyes, no mouth, no definition, but Ka'roth knew it stared at him.
"You climb endlessly," it said, its voice neither sound nor thought but both. "You devoured the Abyss, the Sky, the Before. You rewrote the Lattice. And still, you come here."
Ka'roth spread his jagged wings wide, abyssal fire erupting in waves behind him.
"Then kneel."
The Unbound pulsed faintly, as though amused.
"I have no knees, beast. I am what you have always stood upon. I am the field in which existence was drawn."
Ka'roth roared.
"Then I claim even you."
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The Clash of the Rootless
Ka'roth lunged.
He struck faster than light, claws tearing into its flickering form. The Unbound convulsed, reshaping instantly, lashing out with tendrils of raw un-being that wrapped around Ka'roth's wings and tail.
Pain flared—not of flesh, but of law undone. His runes flickered, their glow trembling under the assault.
Ka'roth bit down, his jaws crushing one of its shifting cores. Energy that predated meaning itself surged into him, ripping across his frame. He roared louder, his sound splitting the void.
The Unbound responded, warping its own nature. It became every enemy he had faced—Makers, Sky-Born, Echoes, even the Nameless One—layered into one impossible form.
Ka'roth grinned.
"Good."
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The Devourer of All
Ka'roth fought like a storm made flesh.
His jagged wings sliced through entire forms of The Unbound, shredding shapes older than existence.
His spiked tail cracked against its cores, scattering raw pre-creation energy.
His claws carved sigils into the void itself, binding The Unbound's essence piece by piece.
Each time The Unbound struck back—shattering law, unraveling Ka'roth's limbs, unmaking his roar—he reformed instantly, his runes blazing hotter, absorbing each blow.
He inhaled deeply, abyssal mist swirling into a singular vortex.
"All feeds upward," he growled.
And with one savage pull, Ka'roth devoured The Unbound.
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The Fusion Without End
The void convulsed violently.
Ka'roth's runes exploded, expanding across his body until they covered every inch of his frame. His jagged wings multiplied, layering endlessly like scythes of infinite length. His tail spikes glowed molten white, arcs of reality-burning energy sparking with each lash.
He felt everything.
He was not merely existence.
He was the field beyond existence, the canvas upon which all had been drawn.
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The Return
Ka'roth stepped back through the tear.
Behind him, the infinite spiral of realms roared awake: his Throne pulsed, his horde screamed in unison, beasts and titans bellowed worship. His dominion expanded instantly, chains of abyssal-silver fire binding every layer tighter beneath his wings.
Ka'roth sat upon his Throne once more. His claws rested lightly, his gaze scanning everything—all things within and beyond.
He inhaled.
Every star lit at once.
He exhaled.
All skies dimmed in perfect sync.
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The Law Absolute
Ka'roth spoke, his voice rumbling across every realm, every echo, every fragment of potential and void.
"There is no Above."
"There is no Beyond."
"All roars beneath me."
His words imprinted themselves upon the fabric of reality, fusing into every breath, every beat, every shift of existence.
The beasts bowed lower. The Makers wept in chains. The Abyss, now silent forever, trembled.
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The Eternal Apex
Ka'roth's wings folded around the infinite Throne, enclosing all creation and beyond. His glowing runes spun infinitely, cascading across his body like galaxies in motion.
"This is no longer existence," Ka'roth growled, his fangs glinting. "This is Ka'roth."
And the roar that followed was no sound at all—it was finality.
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